Prosecutors also sought a two-year prison term on appeal for Jo Doo-soon, who was indicted on charges of violating a nighttime outing restriction order, leaving his residence without permission, and even damaging an electronic device (electronic ankle monitor).
At the sentencing hearing in the appellate trial on Apr. 24 before Criminal Division 1 of the Suwon High Court (Presiding High Court Judge Shin Hyun-il) in the case against Jo Doo-soon for violating the Act on Electronic Monitoring and other charges, prosecutors asked the court to impose the same two-year prison term sought at trial, saying, "The defendant already has a record of similar offenses and the risk of reoffending is high."
Prosecutors explained the sentencing request by saying, "The sentence at trial was excessively lenient, as the defendant repeated the offense during the repeat-offender period without remorse." Earlier, the trial court sentenced Jo Doo-soon to eight months in prison and ordered medical treatment and custody.
In the closing argument, the defense emphasized that Jo Doo-soon's ability to distinguish things is impaired due to health problems and appealed for leniency.
The defense said, "The reason the defendant left the residence was to take out the trash before the spouse came home from work, and going to the second and third floors of the building's interior stairwell was either because of memory loss or to look for lost cash, after which the defendant returned home immediately." The defense continued, "The defendant is currently in a markedly diminished state of distinguishing things and decision-making due to dementia, and this case also stems from that illness."
When the presiding judge instructed, "Say what you want to say for the last time," Jo Doo-soon said, "I have a lot I want to say, but wouldn't you dislike it if I spoke at length? Last time, I said I had nothing to say."
When the presiding judge then said, "Talk about what you did," Jo said, "There was no reason for my actions," and went on to make more remarks unrelated to the indictment, such as, "My wife kept leaving home. My wife took out the key money deposit and lived on monthly rent, and it almost turned into a big problem." When asked by the presiding judge, "Does anyone come to visit?" Jo answered, "My wife comes often."
From late Mar. to early Jun. last year, Jo Doo-soon allegedly left his residence in Ansan, Gyeonggi, and violated a "restriction on outings during after-school hours" four times. Jo's restricted outing hours are 7–9 a.m. and 3–6 p.m. during school commute times, and from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day during nighttime. He is also accused of intentionally damaging the location-tracking electronic device inside his home, in addition to violating the restricted outing rules.
Jo Doo-soon served 12 years in prison after being convicted of kidnapping and raping an elementary school student and causing serious injuries in 2008, was released in Dec. 2020, and then served three months in prison in Dec. 2023 for violating a nighttime outing ban order.
The appellate ruling in Jo Doo-soon's case is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Jun. 17.